Local pineapple waste as potential bio-ingredient

The pineapple by-products possess desirable nutritional and physicochemical properties, making it worthwhile to explore their use as a potential functional food element. The study aimed to evaluate the proximate composition and the potential use of MD2 pineapple waste such as peel and pomace, as a growth medium for probiotic bacteria, such as lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacterial. The pineapple pomace was obtained after the pineapple pulp was pressed for the juice. Proximate analysis and the growth of lactic acid bacteria were carried out on the dried and ground pomace. The proximate composition of MD2 pineapple peel and pomace was attained in dry matter (g/100 g) including protein (5.14 g, 6.34 g), total fat (1.14 g,1.09 g), total carbohydrate (85.07 g, 82.75 g) ash (2.42 g, 2.04 g), moisture (6.22 g, 7.79 g), crude fibre (17.4 g,19.39 g) and energy (371 kcal, 366 kcal). The growth performance of Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus acidophilus in pineapple peel and pineapple pomace as an alternative bio ingredient in growth media was significantly increased to log 2-log 3 at 72 hrs of incubation and was evidenced by the lowered pH of the growth medium for each bacterium. The results showed that pineapple waste is a good candidate as a bio ingredient to support the growth of L. paracasei and L. acidophilus and has the potency to be a potential prebiotic for probiotic strains.